Born from Hate, Meant for Blood
by Cheetachan
Summary: No longer wanting to be tools of destruction, four brothers turn to the only ones who can help. But with shadows looming all around them, is change really a possibility?
1. 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters mentioned here, just the names they are using. With the exception of Darius.****Warnings: Mention of blood, death, and trauma. Non-graphic.**

*

He stared at the unmoving man, nothing but shock pulsed through his system. Something in him screamed that this was his reason to exist, that he had fulfilled his purpose. But the other side of him...

With a trembling hand he reached down and poked the soldier. He didn't move. He tried again. Nothing.

"Come on," he grabbed his opponents shoulder and shook him. "Don't just lay there, the fights not done I won too easy. Come on, move."

He felt something wet and pulled his hand back, and saw red. His eyes widened as he became totally transfixed by the substance. Blood. It was blood. Warm and sticky and- no, no, **_no_**! He shook the soldier again, come on, move, _move_ ! This was why he was created, to do this. His brothers too, He knew this they knew this. Before it was joke. He never thought about it, fights never seemed to go this far and it was like a game. They never went so far. Was this dead? You just didn't move? He did this, he did this. No, wake up. Why did he care? Why did he hurt? No, no, no... Move... please.

*

The place was going to crumble down on then, they needed to get out _now_.

Helio and Red had already confirmed they were on the way back to the ship, but Frenzy had yet to answer. And so Indigo was rushing through hallways and sparing glances into rooms looking for the idiot, fully prepared to knock either him or his opponent unconscious. Whichever seemed more appropriate.

When he finally did find him, kneeling next to a body poking and shaking it, he felt fury flash through him. He'd been playing with a corpse?!

He stomped over to him and shouted, "THIS IS WHAT YOU'VE BEEN DOING?! WE'VE BEEN WORKING OUR SHELLS OFF AND YOU'VE BEEN PLAYING SOME TWISTED LITTLE GAME?!"

When his brother didn't respond he snarled and grabbed his shoulder. "Look at me! We were supposed to be collecting..." He trailed off when he saw the other's face. His eyes were wide, and while he was looking at him Indigo wasn't sure if he was really seeing him. The light reflected off them strangly, and the streams that ran down his face. It was like staring at shattered glass.

For the briefest moment, he forgot the peril they were in, and knelt down to meet the haunted gaze. "What happened?"

Frenzy stared at him, unblinking. For a minute Indigo wondered if he'd even heard him; But then the other held out his hand. "It's still warm."

Confused, Indigo looked at the appendage, he didn't see anything other than blood... Wait. His own eyes widened as he made the connection, he looked from the fallen soldier to his brother's hand. Bizarre as it was, it occurred to him that none of them had ever fatally wounded anyone. It was bound to happen sooner or later, it was the reality of their lives. He never-

_"Where the shell are you morons?!"_ Helio's voice yelling through the communicator snapped the leader back to the present. _"We need to go _now

He pressed the button on his band. "I know Helio, we're coming. Is Red with you?"

_"Yes, and you two better hurry up or else none of us are getting out of here."_

"Get ready to go, will be there in a few minutes."

_"We don't _have_ minutes."_ There was a pause. _"Indigo, is something wron-"_ He cut the connection.

Reaching out he gently shook the other clone's shoulder. "Frenzy, we need to go."

No response.

"Frenzy, if we stay here we'll die, we need to go now."

Still nothing.

The other had turned back to the body. Indigo was at a loss, logic was screaming at him to just grab him and run; but that look on his face, that _pain_...

He could feel it.

Suddenly, his prosthetic eye caught movement, and his head snapped to face the soldier. There, his fingers. He grabbed the soldier and flung him across his shoulders, the sudden action must have brought Frenzy back to reality as he was staring at him with total confusion. Indigo didn't give him a chance to ask any questions; grabbing his forearm and pulling him to his feet.

"Let's go."

*

When they finally reached the ship, Red slammed the door open and bellowed, "WHERE THE HECK HAVE YOU GUYS BEEN?!"

The second they were inside Indigo shouted, _"Helio, get us out of here"_

"Like I need to be told!"

The ship jercked and began to raise, bits of ceiling and stone raining down on them, the craft would shake whenever a large piece hit.

It was easy to forget everything, while watching the chaos Helio was steering them through, the deafening sounds of screeching metal and the base caving in on itself drowned out almost every thought except the plea for survival.

But, when they finally escaped, and the moon shown it's cool light though the windows, it all came crashing back.

He needed to check on-

"Hey Fearless, why're you carrying that guy around?"

Almost startled by Red's question, Indigo looked at the man he had on his shoulder. He forgot he still had him.

The man was light.

He wondered... No, surely they would feed soldiers properly.

Then again, Darius was not a practical man. Why should any other crime lord be different?

He slid the soldier off and handed him to Red. "Take him to the med bay."

Red looked at him skeptically. "Why?"

"He's alive. " Feeling no need to say anything else on that matter, the blue leader turned his attention to his yellow sibling.

It didn't look like the situation had improved much.

He was in one of the seats, staring at the hand that was still marked with blood.

He approached him quietly. Once he was right beside him, he actually hesitated. He... Wasn't sure how to handle this.

"Hey, " he spoke gently, and placed his hands on Frenzy's shoulders. "You alright?"

The other didn't speak, but shook his head. At least he was responding. Indigo took that as a good sign and continued.

"He's not dead, you know. "

That got a reaction.

Frenzy's eyes snapped up and locked with his, an unfamiliar glint of hope. "Really? I didn't...? "

"No, you didn't."

The relief that washed over his brother's face was contagious, and Indigo almost felt himself smile. But it only lasted a moment.

Frenzy's expression crashed back into despair and to Indigo's horror he saw the awful streams begin to form again. "Indigo, he wasn't... Moving at all... "

His form began to shudder and without thinking Indigo wrapped an arm around him. He didn't know where these impulses came from; he didn't care. He could feel it, the pain radiating from his brother.

"You didn't kill him. "

"But I almost did... "

It hurt him too.

Months ago, he would have mocked him, if he hadn't the others or Darius would have. But now...

He squeezed tighter as the shudders became stronger; they weren't in danger any more. he could allow this.

Through the chokes and sniffles, Frenzy lifted his hand again, now trembling, and whispered. "Indigo, it was warm."

Indigo said nothing, they could talk later. Now he would just let Frenzy pour himself out.

He could feel two pairs of eyes observing them, but he kept his focus on one in his embrace. He wrapped his other arm around his younger brother, and did his best to provide some kind of comfort.

It was then he made an oath.

This would never happen again.


	2. 2

**Warnings for this chapter: Brief mention of drugs and death.**

*

They dropped the soldier off at a hospital, making sure it wouldn't take long for anyone to notice he was there. It was all they could really do. Their responsibility to the man was done. Besides, Darius would have had them kill him if they'd brought him back with them.

The way Frenzy had reacted to almost mortality wounding him, Indigo didn't even consider brining him to the lair an option worth the risk.

He swore never again.

But.

Something like this _would _happen again, and he hated it. It wasn't a question, but a fact. Not if, but garaunteed.

Darius had decided that with how little success they had against their originals, that perhaps they could serve another purpose for the time being.

He had been right.

Over the past few months they had been sent on what were essentially raids to steal weapons, and what he was fairly certain were high end drug deals.

At first, it all seemed beneficial as far as they were concerned. They actually enjoyed it.

Pulling off missions successfully did something to them as a team, and they began to work together far better than before.

It seemed to affect how they interacted outside of missions as well.

So overall, it was a change for the better. At the time.

But now...

If he were honest, he started to get an uneasy feeling recently. Not so much out of guilt as being suspicious of Darius.

But one night his brothers had listened in on the news, and he overheard the woman say something about a new drug.

Dangerous.

Highly addictive.

Twenty over doses already reported.

Eight of whom were dead.

He didn't feel guilt. He wasn't _made_ to feel guilt. However, the possibility of having something to do with with deaths of people he'd never even seen was... Unnerving.

He brought it up privately with Helio once, while Red and Frenzy were out. The scientist shrugged and said however low he thought of Darius, he doubted the man was foolish enough to get envolved in something that potent.

_"But what if he did"?_ He remembered asking.

"_It's his neck they'll come after, not ours._ "

_I don't mean just that, Helio what do you think about this? If that was the drug we were carrying, that means we had something to do with what's been going on out there. Those weren't warriors or enemies, just civilians."_

Helio had regarded him carefully before answering. _"Indigo, we're engineered assassins. We're not supposed to care. We_ end _lives. "_

_"I know, but that's not what I asked. How do _you _feel about this?"_

The other was silent a long time, his expression unreadable as he tapped his tallons against the work bench. When he finally spoke, his voice contained something Indigo wasn't sure how to identify.

_"I don't know."_

He didn't bring it up again after that, at least not verbally. But it remained at the edge of his thoughts.

He started to observe his other brothers behavior.

Red seemed nervous, about what Indigo couldn't be sure. Not in a jumpy or timid sense, but he seemed to glance over his shoulder when he thought they weren't looking.

He had approached him, late one night and asked why. The answer only confirmed how urgent the situation had become.

_"I heard Dunn the other night, he was talking to some guy, didn't catch his name... I didn't hear a lot either, but it sounded... Big. I think he's plannin' on renting us out as hit men or something."_

_"Why didn't you say anything?"_

"_Ain't that what we're supposed to be doin'?"_

_Is that what you _want_ to be doing?"_

The lack of answer was all he needed.

Frenzy had seemed the least affected, for awhile. Jumping from one place to another and making a general spectacle of himself, both on and off the battle field.

Until now. Until he thought he killed somone.

It was shocking, to see the one who was easily the most blithe member of their team react like that.

He spent the whole day after almost totally silent, locked up in himself.

Indigo didn't think he needed to speak with him, his behavior was more than enough.

It was an awakening for him, in more ways than one.

Not least of which, it made him realize that for all their talk and supposed 'eagerness' to do so, none of them had ever actually killed anyone. Or even inflicted life threatening wounds. Even in their more recent raids, somehow opponents were always knocked unconscious, not killed.

How could that be when killing was why they existed. It was their purpose, come into being unnaturally from wrath and desire for vengeance.

Death was why they were born.

He didn't really question that. He knew he was a clone, meant to kill the one he was based on.

You would believe that would mean they were full of their own blood lust, and inborn desire for death. They were machines meant to slaughter, and revel in it.

Again, in the beginning he didn't question that. It seemed true. He always believed he had no qualms with the idea of defeating his opponent through any means. But perhaps he didn't know himself as well as he thought.

No matter what, somehow, his opponent always lived.

If he was a machine of wrath, why was that so?

Why didn't Helio experiment on fallen opponents, like he often promised he would?

Why didn't Red simply stab them through, like they all knew he was capable of?

Why was Frenzy so broken looking, even though he knew his opponent had actually lived?

This all pointed to something that neither their creator or Darius had anticipated. Maybe even they hadn't.

They had minds, all their own. And something was changing.

His mind was now firmly set on a new objective.

He was never going to see that look on his youngest brother's face again. Or his other brothers. Not if he could help it.

They needed to get away from Darius. Out of this life, for good.

It would have been easy, if it weren't for that cursed suggestion planted in them that prevented them from attacking Darius. It was infuriating.

But it didn't prevent them from leaving.

An idea was forming, a basic one, but better than nothing.

He had disregarded it when he first thought of it, he had pride and so did his brothers. But with the information Red had managed to stumble upon he realized they had few other choices.

It almost felt distasteful to him, cowardly even. But it was the best option they had. To try anything else would be suicide. He wasn't going to put them all at risk just so he could protect his ego.

At Least, this way they would survive.

Assumi that they weren't turned away.

*

"We're leaving. "

"What?"

"We're leaving tonight, we can't keep living under Dunn's control. "

"What, so we're quitting? I don't think Dunn will go for that. "

"Dunn doesn't need to know, by the time he notices we'll be gone. get anything you want to take with you, but don't over do it. The minute Darius is gone, we're out of here."

"And where exactly are we going?"

"Somewhere safe."

*

**Author's Note:**

**This note covers both this, and the previous chapter. I didn't put a note in the first because it seemed out of place, almost inappropriate.**

**I'm not trying to claim the Dark Turtles don't know what death is, I'm sure they know _exactly_ what it is. On a literal, mechanical level.**

**But that's not the same as _seeing_ it, let alone causing it.**

**I wouldn't be surprised, at least early on, if the clones reveled in the idea of violence. It is why they were made.**

**But with living breathing beings, programming only goes so far. To be a living being, you need a soul. And those can't be programed.**

**To finnaly see it, would be undoubtedly be horrifying, maybe even traumatic.**

**You can prepare all you want for a bomb to drop, have a deep understanding of what they are and what they can do. That doesn't mean you'll be prepared to actually witness it.**

**I have an idea of where I want this to go, but it's definitely a work in progress so I'm not going to promise regular updates.**

**I'm not one hundred percent sure about how this chapter turned out, I may come back and edit it more later. **


	3. 3

**Warnings for this chapter: None.**

*

It hadn't been that hard to sneak out. Really, Darius was so full of hubris it was incredible. Not to say that there wasn't any security, just that the security there was was pathetic.

A gloomy and clouded sky greeted them when they emerged, it looked like it might rain. How appropriate.

They snuck quietly, doing there best to keep hidden away from unwanted attention. No easy thing when three of you are primary colors, and one is roughly the size of an average mail truck.

Helio still wasn't sure how he felt about this plan; calling it a plan was being generous. Indigo had essentially pulled it out of thin air. He _was_ sure that no forethought had gone into this what-so-ever.

_"What makes you think they'll do as you think they will? "_ he had asked when Indigo more or less declared they were quitting Darius' employ. "_They have no reason to help us, _I _wouldn't help us if the roles were switched._ "

"_They will, their code will demand it._ " Indigo said it with such certainty that Helio almost let himself believe it. Almost.

_"Every code has a backdoor, Fearless Leader."_

_"Would you rather stay with Darius? You don't have to come with us, I won't make you. "_

_As if I'd let you idiots roam the world on your own. "_

That had been that.

Red had almost acted eager while they prepared for their escape. Helio didn't blame him; they all hated Darius. The thought of being out from under that obnoxious jerk's thumb was probably the closest thing to elation any of them would ever get.

Frenzy had been ecstatic. Despite himself, Helio had been privately glad to see his yellow brother behaving more like himself. After the 'incident' Frenzy had fallen into some kind of depression. It had been upset- _aggravating_ to see him in that state. Hopefully this would return him to his own bizzare form of normalcy.

As for Helio himself, he stayed firm on his opinion that this plan was half baked at best. Preferable to staying with Dunn certainly, but foolhardy nonetheless.

But he was going along with it all the same, which meant he really had no leg to stand on in criticizing it.

Maybe they'd be lucky and just get thrown in prison. They could break out of prison.

Maybe they'd be handed over for 'termination'. They could escape that as well. Probably.

No matter how he looked at it, the most likely outcome seemed to be having to go into hiding.

It's what they should have done in the first place, in his opinion.

Somewhere obscure, preferably away from large populations.

The rainforest was a good option. Plenty of unused land, lots of cover, good food sources, superstition alive and well in certain areas. It would be easy enough to fade away there, become ghosts.

Plus, the diversity of flora in the jungle, perhaps countless undiscovered-

"We're here. "

Snapped out of his musings by his leaders voice, Helio shook his head to clear it and focused on the building in front of them. He wrinkled his beak at it. He thought it was ridiculously huge the first time he saw it, and still did now.

"So what do we do? " Red asked as he glared at the tower. "Ring the doorbell?"

Helio looked to his eldest brother. "Well,

Indigo?"

Indigo kept his eyes firmly on the upper floors. "We wait. "

*

"You guys see what I'm seeing?"

"Yeah, but I'm not sure I belive it."

"There just standing there, why aren't they trying to bust the door down or somethin'?

"Maybe they're selling chocolate bars?"

"I really doubt that Mikey."

"Well Fearless, what do we do? It'd be rude of us just to leave 'em in the rain like that. Could catch a nasty cold that way."

"Agreed, let's go greet our 'guests'. "

*

The originals stepped out of the building. Each had his weapon drawn, ready to deflect any incoming attack.

The clones didn't move. The ninjas cast looks at eachother.

Leonardo stepped forward. "Why are you here? If you're looking for a fight, it will end like the others. "

The clones remained silent. Irritated, Raphael snapped. "What's with you freaks? Say somethin' already! We ain't got all night! "

Finally, Dark Leo stepped forward and unscheathed his swords, the turtles tensed for an attack, their eyes focused on the betrayer.

Narrow eyes widened as the clone let his weapons fall; they hit the ground with a clatter as loud as the thunder.

For a few long minutes they could only stare. They tensed again when the blue enemy moved, only to blink in surprise when the clone spoke.

"We need your help."

*

Raph gaped at the scene in front of him, trying to figure out what the clone thought he was pulling.

Seriously?

Who did these freaks think they were fooling?

"Yeah right, " he snapped. "You think we're a bunch of pushovers? We haven't forgotten the last trick you tried to pull. "

Indigo ignored him, and kept his gaze firmly on Leonardo. "We can no longer serve Dunn, we no longer _want_ to serve him. Not that we ever wanted to."

"You seemed willing enough to destroy my brothers and I before."

"Yeah, " Mike piped up. "You even wanted to eat us!"

"That one was just Red, " Dark Mike pointed at the huge clone. His face scrunched. "I thought you guys would taste nasty. "

"... Hey- "

"At the time," Dark Don interrupted. "We were perfectly willing to end you all. But things are different now, you could say we've given Dunn our two weeks notice. "

"So what?" Raph glared at the purple one. "You guys turned over a new leaf one night? Some light from above fell on ya? I don't buy it. "

"Whether you believe or not is immaterial, it doesn't change the fact. And the fact is we don't want to live like that anymore. Especially not since -" he stopped, eyes widened a fraction, like he almost let something slip.

Raph wasn't going to have that.

"Especially not since _what_ "

He almost missed it, and with their lack of pupils it was hard to say, but he could swear he saw purple and red's eyes quickly dart to the yellow one.

He could have imagined it, but he cast his eyes over to Leo and got the feeling he noticed it too.

Dark Raph spoke up. "It ain't important," he crossed his arms and fixed them with a glare. "Not your business anyway."

"You just came bangin' on our door! That makes it our business!"

Leo remained silent, fixing his clone with a scrutinizing look. Dark Leo stared back just as intently. It was an impressive stare down, Raph had to admit. Finally, his brother spoke.

"What reason can you give me to believe that this won't turn out like before?"

"Even a scorpion cares for it's brood, Leonardo."

Raph had no idea what that was supposed to mean, and judging by their expressions neither did the other clones. Leo however, something flickered across his face, to quickly for Raph to discern it.

Dark Leo continued, "I won't allow my brothers to spend another minute of their lives in slavery." He paused as he considered something. He locked Leo with a piercing gaze. "Leonardo, you once told me I could choose to do right, does that still stand? "

Raph turned his attention back to his leader, whose expression was unreadable. Or it would be, to anyone who didn't know him.

He knew that look, or at least had seen variants of it. That was the look he got when he felt there was some kind of injustice taking place; which put Raph on edge. He hated the thought of anyone being mistreated just as much as Leo did, but this was different. This guy showed himself to be a liar before, and Raph had no doubt that was still the case now.

But, if the way the light shifted in his older brother's eyes was any indication, he had a pretty good idea what was coming.

"You have betrayed my family before, and I am not ruling out that possibility. However, if what you say is true, then we will help you." His eyes turned to steel. "I don't trust you, but will allow to come in to lobby _on the condition_ that you hand over your weapons. " He glanced at Dark Don's guards. "Including those."

Don's clone didn't look pleased, but a stern look from his own leader seemed to nip any protest that was coming. When Raph took the guards from him the clone hissed.

"I trust you about as much as you trust me. "

"Right back at'cha. "

The yellow one, Mike's clone, didn't really seem to care. He handed his clubs over without a word. Raph raised a brow at that; 'docile' was not a word he would've applied to the guy.

The red one, that Raph _refused_ to believe came from him in any way shot them a sour look.

"What are you gonna do about me? Take my hands off?"

"Don't give us ideas. " Raph growled back.

After shooting him a look, Leo spoke again. "We'll talk more inside, I'm not staying you can stay, but we'll hear you out."

Leo turned, waving for them follow.

One by one they went inside, the clones trailing behind them. Mike kept casting glances over his shoulder at them.

They crossed the threshold, the door shut behind them. The ninjas turned to face their replecas again; every cell in Raph's body was on high alert. They were setting themselves up for double cross, he knew it.


	4. 4

**Author's note: Huge thanks to imaAvenger for agreeing to beta read this story! Also, thanks to everyone who's faved and followed so far, and to Euglenid this stories first reviewer! **

**Now, on with the chapter!**

**Warnings for this chapter: S****_light _****elements of horror, non graphic. **

Dark Leo had requested to speak with Leo privately for a few minutes, and the blue masked ninja had agreed. This was not only infuriating, but completely stupid in Raph's opinion.

He should of at least let him go with them, if the clone attacked he'd have backup. But then, he wasn't really sure how he felt about leaving Don and Mikey alone with the other three. Particularly Mikey.

To his youngest brother's credit, he wasn't trying to chat with them and was keeping guarded. There was suspicion in his eyes, albeit not quite to the level Raph was feeling, but it was there.

But there was curiosity too.

Raph knew Mike, and it was only a matter time before it got the better of him and he did something stupid. If that's why Leo left him out of his little meeting with his clone, then he could live with that.

The silence in the room could've been cut with a knife. Two clones glared death at them, which Raph was more than happy to return, and the other's eyes wandering around the room.

He glanced at the clock, how long had those two been talking? His patience was wearing thin, and he could feel the suspicion growing stronger. If there were a fight they would have heard it going on, but that didn't put his mind at ease.

He was briefly distracted when he noticed Mike start to fidget. Almost at the same time, Dark Mike was starting to tap his foot.

Something inside Raph twitched.

He hated acknowledging that these freaks were based off them, but it was hard not to see the similarity in that moment. It was like watching someone in front of one of those funhouse mirrors.

He really hoped Leo would be done talking with his clone soon, Mike and his clone looked like one of them was gonna burst. Or worse, both of them. Raph did not want to see what would happen if that occurred.

Fortunately, blessedly, a few minutes later the two leaders returned. All eyes turned on them.

Leo spoke first. "We've reached an agreement. "

Raph felt his heart sink.

The purple clone narrowed his eyes and asked. "What sort of agreement?"

Leo answered, "You may stay with us, for now. With conditions."

"And those are?"

"We will keep your weapons until we are sure you don't intend to betray us again." Dark Don's scowl deepened. "We'll also confiscate your packs and communicators, at least until Don can confirm there are no viruses or explosives."

"What?!"

"Also," Leo continued, "Until we see that you are being truthful, you will be staying in separate quarters." He turned to look at Dark Leo. "And know, if I catch any of you doing _anything_ that will hurt my family, don't think I'll hesitate to deal with you."

Dark Don snapped at his leader, "Indigo you agreed to this?!" Judging by the expressions on the other dark turtles' faces, they shared the sentiment.

"Yes, I'm not any happier about it than you are-"

"Well that makes three of us!" Raph shouted, turning to glare at his older and apparently insane brother. "Leo what are you thinking?! Did you forget what happened last time? They're setting us up and you're walking right into it!"

Leo fixed him a firm look. "They came to us asking for help, honor demands we give them a chance."

"But-"

"The decision is final Raph, we're giving them a chance to prove themselves."

The red banded ninja groaned and rubbed his eyes. "We're gonna wake up to these guys trying to slit our throats."

"We're trained in sensing any kind of danger, I'm sure we could deal with them. In any case, the rooms doors will be locked, and security will alert us if they escape."

Don's clone was radiating displeasure as he hissed at his own leader. "And I suppose you agreed to that too?"

Dark Leo didn't reply.

Dark Raph shifted. "I don't like this, do we really have to stay separate? You guys already got our weapons, and you're locking the door anyway."

"After you've proven yourselves trustworthy, you can share rooms if you want. "

"And how long," Dark Don spoke again, voice full of venom. "Do you suppose _that_ will take?"

Leo regarded him a moment, then answered. "That will depend on you." He turned and started to walk down the hall. "It's late. I'm sure we could all use some sleep. We'll take you to where you'll be staying. We can talk more in the morning."

Again Leo lead the way, Don and Mike right behind him. The clones walked after them, with Raph taking up the rear. He wasn't turning his back on them, not for a minute. Couldn't trust these losers as far you could throw them.

The clones kept quiet almost the entire way, and he wasn't sure if that was relieving or irritating.

At one point, however, he overheard Dark Don mutter.

"I still think this a terrible idea. "

They arrived at the first of the rooms, and surprisingly it was the purple clone who stepped into it. He shot them all a dark look, but glared most intently at his leader.

"You had better know what you're doing, Indigo."

The door shut, and the locks clicked.

A couple of doors down was the next room, which the red one stepped into. He had an equally sour look on his face but stayed quiet. That is, until Don took his pack, his eyes widened a fraction and he reached to take it back.

"Wait, I need to get something out of there. "

"You can have it back after I've checked it. Is there something you really need in here?"

Raph didn't care if he did or not, they weren't guests. They should be glad they weren't putting them in the basement. But it figured Don would be concerned.

Again he thought he saw eyes flicker, only instead of the yellow one it looked like he was glancing at Leo's clone.

"...No."

They shut and locked the door, and went to the next.

Mike's clone took it and was still being weirdly quiet. He didn't look happy, but wasn't making much racket about it. For some reason, it was almost irritating.

The door shut, and he knew he saw it this time, the yellow clone's eyes darted to Dark Leo. The blue clone nodded slightly, and the other seemed to relax. Still didn't look happy, but was definitely less tense.

The door closed, and they moved to the last room. Leo's clone entered the room, and fixed them with a sharp gaze, saying nothing as the door shut.

When the locks were finally heard clicking into place, Raph turned to Leonardo.

"What did you just get us into?"

When the door shut and he was out of sight, Indigo let out the breath he'd been holding since they arrived. He really hadn't doubted their originals would at least hear what they had to say. But that didn't mean he wasn't aware of all the ways it could have gone wrong.

All the ways it _still_ could go wrong.

These next few weeks were going to be hard on them all, he could only hope he and his brothers would be able to restrain themselves. Helio's words still rang in his ears. He rubbed his face, this was not going be easy. Not by any stretch. At least the rooms had beds. That was already more than what they had before.

He sat down on the mattress, getting sleep would probably be best. Hopefully, his brothers would do the same.

He stretched out and tried to relax. His heart was pounding, his mind still racing. He knew this place was safe, but he wasn't programmed for security. There was no such thing for them. At least not before, but there would be now. He'd make sure of it.

His eyes started to droop, Sleep began to take him...

Something sharp pricked his hand.

He slapped where he had felt it. He lifted his hand to examine it, expecting to see a bug of some kind, he was surprised to not find anything.

Shrugging it off, he tried to get comfortable again.

"_You really think they will help you?"_

He bolted upright, eyes scanning the room for any kind of intruder. He saw nothing. On edge, but knowing he was alone, he laid back down and tried again to go to sleep. He felt his skin pricking, like there was another in the room with him. It was ridiculous, this building was one of the most secure in the city. Aside from that, he was an assassin. Even if there were someone, he could handle them easily.

Still, he had the sensation of being watched. No matter how he tried to ignore it, it would not go away.

Eventually, restless sleep did come. Nightmares of scorpions trapped in webs.


End file.
